Texas is messy…somebody needs to clean it up!

Whether you were “green” before the color was fashionable or whether you’re just ready to find the “shade” that works best for you, here’s information about doing just “one green thing.”

As you travel, you learn to be thankful about some things. For me, it is Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful (KNIB) and the volunteers who work each spring on our clean-up day.

Southern Texas is very messy, and it would take crews months of Saturdays to have any effect. The challenge is plastic bags. They are everywhere. If you have been to Texas, you know of the long, sweeping areas of flat lands. A plastic bag that gets away here can blow for a long way before eventually snagging on a fence, a tree, bush or something. And trust me, they are snagged everywhere. You can look high in the trees, or low along the ground.

Brownsville, Texas, and Italy are my favorite places in the world. They have taken action to eliminate the challenge of plastic bags: they have banned them. In Texas, the word has spread, and now South Padre Island, Texas, is talking of doing the same.

As far as I am concerned, the only good use for a plastic bag is to fill it with trash picked up from wherever you find it. This presents another conundrum, however. When I pick up trash, I often use a plastic bag. If plastic shopping bags were eliminated, what would I use while walking along the beach? Unfortunately, I will not have to worry about this problem for long. Too soon, it will be time to return home and wait for the opportunity for more trash pick-up when KNIB gets busy on plans for the northern Illinois clean-up day. Call KNIB at (815) 637-1343 today, and volunteer. See you along the roadside.

For more information, e-mail Jan Herbert at JanHerbert@Rockford-Parkdistrict.org.